By Laura Landsbaum
George Mitchell’s now 50-year-old vision for The Woodlands — a community where residents could Live, Work, Play, Learn and Pray without leaving — continues to bring real tangible benefits in 2024. Residents of The Woodlands enjoy shorter commute times and more family time because of the strength of the pioneering master planned community’s ever growing employer base and its variety of housing choices. Now, new office buildings and new employers are giving residents even more chances to work right in The Woodlands.
These new employers coming to The Woodlands have become more diverse over the years.
“Traditionally, a majority of our office leasing prospects have been from the oil and gas sector,” Howard Hughes vice president of strategic investments Patrick Stites says. “Today we are seeing a much more diverse segmentation of tenants – including medical, renewable energy and infrastructure. The traditional oil and gas prospect is now only a third of our overall prospects.”
This ever expanding variety of industries means more and more residents in The Woodlands have an opportunity to work where they live and play. This offers the benefit of shorter commutes and more time for employees to spend with family, instead of behind the wheel. It even becomes a recruiting tool for employers looking to attract highly skilled and educated workers.
“Most residents of The Woodlands live within a 7 minute drive (to work),” Stites says. “With our Live, Work and Play model, employees have the ability to reside in a community with nature, parks, outstanding schools, top-rated medical, and the best in shipping, dining and entertainment, all within a walk or short drive.”
Shrinking That Commute In The Woodlands
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, average commute times for Texas and United States workers in general, average about 26 minutes each way. That is almost an hour in the car every day. Living and working in The Woodlands shrinks that time considerably.
Shorter commute times for workers bring several advantages. Stopping for a morning coffee on the way to work is easy in The Woodlands — with many locally-owned coffee shops along the way. Grabbing dinner on the way home is equally simple, as is meeting your loved ones or friends at one of the top restaurants in Hughes Landing, Waterway Square or Market Street, or catching a top artist performing at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
It’s good to have it all close to home. George Mitchell saw that more than a half century ago. Residents in The Woodlands are enjoying those benefits more than ever today.
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Many thanks to The Woodlands 50th Anniversary Sponsors:
FOUNDING – Howard Hughes
LEGACY – Woodforest National Bank
HERITAGE – Waste Connections Inc.
GOLD – Entergy Texas, Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital
SILVER – SVN/JBeard Real Estate, The John Cooper School
PRODUCER – The Woodlands Township